A Ban On Crabbing Won't Work

Another View

January 16, 1996|By JOHN W. FREEMAN SR.

All I'm reading in the newspaper is that to save the blue crab population we must eliminate the catching of egg-bearing females and crab dredging.

Crab dredging is the oldest crab fishery and has an efficiency rating of only 16 percent. This means that when a dredge goes over a certain area it catches only 16 percent of the available crabs under that dredge. With only 325 participants, it is not only the smallest crab fishery, it also has the least impact on the resource.

By the participants' own request the daily catch limit for dredge crabs was lowered from 25 barrels to 20 barrels, and dredging was prohibited on Saturdays. This is an actual conservation realization of over 50 barrels per boat per week that the crabbers asked for themselves.

The harvesting of egg-bearing female (sponge) crabs is also under attack. These crabs are predominately caught by crab pots. Crab pots have been in existence for over 50 years.

The female crab is impregnated only once in her life and will spawn two to three times in her life, after which she may continue to bear eggs but they are dormant. So, in other words, all matured female crabs are continually pregnant. The external egg mass is the final phase in the cycle.

Participants in this fishery called for two cull rings to release the smaller crabs and a small percentage of the legal-size crabs. They also further established limits and sanctuaries to promote conservation.

The other crab fishery is the peeler/soft crab fishery. This is not a new fishery, but its level of participation has increased by almost 500 percent in the past three years.

Peeler pots are baited with fish or a male crab to entice the peeler into the trap. These peelers are then placed into shedding floats, where they shed into soft crabs.

The problem that the public does not understand is that when an egg-bearing female is caught, not even a scientist can tell you if this is her first spawning cycle or their third; however, when a peeler or soft crab is taken from the water, any knowledgeable person can tell you that this crab has never reproduced and will never reproduce because it was taken from its environment before it had the chance to be impregnated.

If a ban or further curtailing of the harvesting of sponge crabs is enacted without addressing the harvesting of peelers and soft crabs through catch limits and sanctuaries, then any ban on one fishery will not accomplish anything.

There are no restrictive regulations on the peeler/soft crab fishery. The hard crab pot and crab dredge fisheries have done their part; it's about time the Virginia Marine Resources Commission did its part and protected the young.

Freeman, a waterman for 52 years, lives in Hampton and is a former member of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.